I don't own VA!

Thirteen

Chapter 6

DPOV

The rest of my family had made their way down for breakfast. I didn't eat and barely spoke. The very air in the room was somber. We put on the special Moroi world news channel on TV that you needed a special code to unlock. Pictures of the twisted metal of the car and smoke filled the screen as a Moroi man droned on about the logistics of the accident. They hadn't told who survived yet. My tears had stopped falling but it felt as though my heart had also stopped beating.

"It seems we're finally cleared to announce the survivors of this tragic accident," the news anchor cleared his throat and I lunged for the remote to turn up the volume. "It seems that Vasilisa Dragomir is now Moroi history's youngest Princess in history at fifteen years old. The other survivor is a young dhampir girl. The deceased are Eric, Rhea and Andre Dragomir." Fresh tears fell from my eyes as the man crossed himself in respect of the dead. My tears were relieved this time as a guilty feeling settled in my stomach. As happy as I am that Rose is alive, Lissa is my friend too and she just lost her entire family in one day. I couldn't imagine what she was going through right now.

"Can I go back early, momma?" I asked her quietly. "I'm sure they sent them back to the academy."

"Not today, Dimka," she cupped my check gently. "We'll arrange for you to go back a few days early, but you can't just hop on a plane today." I nodded my acceptance but I couldn't hide the anguish in my eyes, not from my mother.

~.~.~.~.~

RPOV

Everything was black. My ears were ringing loudly. The last thing I remember was sliding off the road, then everything went black. I remember a hot then cold sensation flowing through my body after the darkness took over, but nothing else. Oh God, Lissa. I hoped she was okay. But I knew that she was; somehow' I just knew she was alive. And I could feel her worry tickling the back of my mind. My ears stopped ringing, replaced with the steady beeps of hospital monitors. My eyelids fluttered open, flooding my senses with the overwhelming bright whiteness of a room at the academy's clinic. Tubes were sticking out of me as I laid in the bed and I was staring…directly at myself, somehow also sitting in a chair at my own bedside. I blinked a few times, shaking my head very slightly. After my final blink, I was fully back in the bed and Lissa was gently wrapping her arms around me. I could feel her tears falling as she pulled back, one of them landing on my own face. Then I was staring at myself again. I blinked hard, slamming back into my own head. That's it. I was looking at me from Lissa's eyes. It was very disorienting.

"Wha-what happened?" I croaked, watching tears fall more steadily from her jade green eyes. She took a deep breath, bracing herself.

"We were in an accident," she whispered, voice wavering. "Oh, God, Rose. They…they're all dead. My parents and Andre…they didn't make it." She whimpered and I sat up abruptly, wincing in pain and trying not to pass back out. I crushed her into a hug and we sobbed together

"I'm so sorry, Liss," I smoothed her pale blond hair, holding her gently. "I'm so glad you're alive." She chuckled darkly and I could feel her pain swirling inside of her and flowing into me. It was making me dizzy, muddling our emotions together.

"I'm not," she deadpanned and I almost jumped, feeling the seriousness in both her face and emotions. "They're all gone. I might as well be too." I felt my face twist with pain and fear. Pain because she was hurting and fear because I'd never heard Lissa talk like that. I knew she was devastated but I'd always take care of her. I shook it off quickly and just held her, assuring me that we'd get through this together. Like always.

"I'll always take care of you," I promised, staring deep into her eyes. She mustered a small smile. I could feel how deeply she trusted me. She believed me. I didn't know how, but I knew I would. I gasped suddenly. Lissa looked and felt startled. I hoped that weird sensation of feeling her emotions would go away soon because it was freaky. "Dimitri! I need to call him and tell him we're…alive." I had started to say okay, but I didn't think we were. She gave me a small nod.

"They're gonna kick me out soon anyway," she whispered. "I'll give you some privacy."

"Wait!" I grabbed her wrist, wincing at the movement. "How long have I been in here?"

"Three days," she smiled wryly. "I didn't know if you were gonna make it or not." I tugged her back down and she laid beside me for a while, before Dr. Olenski came into the room.

"Oh, good," she said warmly. "You're awake. I'm sorry, Princess. It's time for you to go back to your room. It's late and I have a lot to go over with Rosemarie." I was too stunned by her calling Lissa Princess to correct her about my own name. Lissa squeezed me once more, climbing shakily out of the bed and telling me to rest. I didn't even make the connection to her being the Princess of her family now. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to steady my breathing, before opening them to the concerned, gentle eyes of the school's doctor. She sat in the chair Lissa had vacated to cuddle with me.

"How bad is it?" I whispered, suddenly terrified, Dr. Olenski shifted uncomfortably but her eyes didn't leave mine.

"Where you were sitting," she began, brows furrowing together. "The state of the car, the way it impacted the tree. Rose," she was speaking gently, as if I was a child, "you shouldn't have survived, on paper. It's a miracle that you're alive. And on top of that, your injuries are minimal."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wincing as I moved. Everything hurt. She produced two files.

"This is your file," she handed it to me and I opened it, pictures of the accident as well as medical reports spilled out. "This is one of a similar car accident and seating position." She gave me that one as well. It read coroner on top, and I swallowed thickly. I handed it back.

"I can't look at that," I murmured, turning my attention back to mine. She nodded in understanding, sympathy written across her face. I leafed through the pages to find that I had a couple bruised ribs, spraining to my shoulder and some minor cuts and scrapes. I also found out that I was ejected from the vehicle and onto the other side of the road. That alone should have killed me.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Rose," she gripped my hand. "It's truly a miracle. You should rest now." I nodded, feeling numb. A buzzing in the back of my mind told me Lissa was feeling overwhelmed and scared.

"Can I make a phone call first?" I asked, desperately needing to hear Dimitri's voice. She gave me a gentle smile.

"Dimitri?" she questioned, knowing how many times we'd accompanied one another to this very clinic. I nodded, not trusting my voice not to shake. "Unfortunately, it's very late, so no phone calls right now. You'll be back in your room by tomorrow afternoon, but for now you need to rest."

"I've been resting for three days," I said, dryly. She patted my hand gently.

"A coma is not the same as actual sleep, Rose," she informed me. I fought the urge to roll my eyes, mostly because she was right and I was exhausted. Sleep claimed me quickly but it was anything but peaceful. My own emotions were going haywire and I could still fell Lissa slowly but steadily falling apart.

~.~.~.~.~

The Next Day

I had woken up early in the vampiric morning, immediately being poked and prodded and asked stupid questions, like what year is it? I had rolled my eyes but let the doctor examine me and answered everything honestly. I was then whisked away to lunch in the cafeteria, with the other kids who stayed at the academy year round. It was mostly dhampirs but there were a couple of ultra-protective Moroi families who felt it was safer to leave their children at the heavily guarded school rather than out into the world. I walked with a slight limp, thanks to my healing sprained ankle. I spotted Lissa, sitting by herself, right away. I grabbed a couple slices of pizza and a frosted brownie, plunking myself next to her. She jumped, too lost in her own thought to notice my approach. I guess that meant she wasn't feeling my thoughts and emotions like I was her.

"Rose!" she exclaimed, embracing me. I hugged her back. Studying her face, I saw her eyes were bloodshot from crying and she looked worn.

"How're you holding up?" I whispered, trying to prevent the inevitable gossip.

"Not great," she winced as she answered. "But I can't let anyone else see that. I'm the Princess now. I have to be perfect." There was a bitterness in her tone that I didn't recognize.

"You're allowed to grieve, even as the Princess, Liss," I told her gently, between big bites of brownie. I was starving after not eating for almost four days. She nodded slowly, soaking in what I was saying. Her brain was processing things slowly and I glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to us.

"I have to tell you something," I murmured, leaning closer to my best friend. She followed suit, our shoulders touching.

"Is everything ok?" she asked, concern shooting through her. "Do you need to get reevaluated? I knew it was too soon for you to be released." She eyed me warily, as if I'd drop to the floor in pain right then.

"I'm fine," I told her, tightly. "But…this is gonna sound crazy…" I trailed off, looking for wandering eyes again.

"You're always crazy," she said, tone teasing but her heart wasn't in it. I knew it. Ugh.

"I think something weird happened during the accident," I breathed. She turned to look into my eyes, glaring slightly.

"Besides my entire family dying?" she snapped harshly. I was taken aback. Sweet, innocent Lissa looked ready to bite my head off. I took her hand and rubbed gentle circles on the back of it.

"As I was waking up in the clinic," I gulped then took a deep breath. "I saw myself, through your eyes." Her eyes widened and I continued. "Then, I was back in my own head, looking back at you. But I could feel your relief at me being awake. Your pain over…" I trailed off but she knew what pain I was talking about.

"A bond," she whispered, staring off into space. "I thought they were just folklore." She squinted at me, studying my face.

"So did I," I sighed, slumping over my half-eaten food. "We can't tell anyone, Liss. I'm guessing you can't feel me, from how high you jumped when I sat down. But they'll turn me into a lab animal if they find out." She nodded in earnest.

"I won't tell but Rose," she took my hand, a flash of excitement temporarily masking some of the pain. "All the best guardians in the books were bonded to their Moroi." I smiled back at her before we split up and headed back to our respective dorms. We'd been moved into the upperclassmen dorms at the beginning of freshman year so the walk from the cafeteria was a little long on my end. I was exhausted again by the time I made it to my room on the second floor and collapsed into my bed, letting sleep take me.

I woke up hours later to sun poking through my curtains and the sound of stones hitting my window. I groggily rolled out of bed and glanced at the time. I knew I slept through dinner and could feel a buzz of worry from Lissa shooting through me at me missing a meal but I pushed it aside and went to the window. I threw the curtains back and opened it, leaning out precariously.

"Who the fuck is there and what do you want?" I called down. A tall figure stepped into my line of vision and my heart soared. I hadn't gotten a chance to call him in all the chaos and now he was here.

"I guess you didn't suffer any brain damage since you're still mean!" Dimitri yelled back, easy smile on his face but even from two stories up, I could hear the relief in his voice.

"Well, you coming up or what?" I laughed. He'd stuck into my room countless times, thanks to the tree next to my window.

"Only if you promised not to knock me out of the tree this time," he replied, starting the climb anyway.

"That was one time! And it was an accident," I defended. His long limbs and strong muscles quickly landed him through the window and into my dorm. We stared at each other for a couple minutes, then his arms were around me. I melted into him, burying my face in his chest and crying my heart out. He rubbed my back and murmured soothingly in Russian.

"You weren't supposed to be back until Monday," I finally pulled away, swiping at the last of my tears and slapping his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"As soon as I heard about the accident, I tried to hop on a plane right away, but momma made me wait a couple days," he looked down at his feet, seeming nervous. "I needed to see you in person to make sure you…"

"To make sure I'm alive," I finished for him and he nodded, sheepishly. "And kicking." I told him, shooting my leg out at his foot for emphasis. He chuckled and we sat next to each other on my bed. We didn't talk, but our silences were always comfortable. I wanted to tell him about the bond, but I was nervous. He was too, I could tell, but I didn't know what he had to be nervous about. Several heavy moments passed.

"I need to tell you something," we both blurted at the same time.

Please review!